Today I’m introducing you to jjamppong, a spicy noodle soup full of seafood, meat, and vegetables. As you see from the video, it’s made with a lot of different ingredients, which makes it a hearty, filling meal, served spicy steaming hot.
This is a Korean Chinese dish, developed by Chinese immigrants living in Incheon, Korea and adapted to Korean tastes. Jjamppong and jjajangmyeon (noodles with black bean sauce) are common dishes for Korean Chinese delivery. They are usually served in huge portions and both use the same noodles.
The key to this recipe is in the delicious, savory, anchovy and kelp stock. I learned this tip from the owner of a Korean grocery store when I lived in Columbia, Missouri many years ago. His wife was very kind, and one day when I stopped by the store she invited me to go into the back room where her husband was making jjamppong. I had never heard of anyone making jjamppong at home before, everyone orders it from Chinese restaurants. But he showed me how he made his stock, and in what order everything should be cooked, and for how long. He was a real gourmet and his jjamppong was delicious. I’ve used his recipe ever since.
Many years later, when writing the jjamppong recipe in my book Maangchi’s Real Korean Cooking, I wanted to get a few details from him. I hadn’t talked to them for a long time, but looked up their store online and called them. She recognized my voice right away! But she was too busy with customers to talk much, so she asked me to call her in a few hours.
But I forgot to call her and eventually my book was published and life went on. Much later I remembered her and called her again. The number didn’t work anymore. I Googled the store and found her obituary in the local paper, she had passed away! Her husband must have retired, because their son took over the store. I feel sad about not calling her back!
I’m grateful that she invited me to have jjamppong that day, so now I can pass this recipe along to all of you. It’s a little modified from the one in my cookbook because I simplified a few things, but it’s still delicious! I hope you enjoy it!
Serves 2
Ingredients
For stock:
- 1 ounce of large dried anchovies (about 24 anchovies) with the heads and guts removed
- 1 piece (about 6×6 inch) dried kelp
- 12 cups water
Vegetables:
- 1 daepa (large green onion), or 4 green onions, cut into 2 inch length
- 2 ounces leek, washed and cut into ½ x 2 inch strips
- 4 ounces bok choy, washed
- 3 large cabbage leaves (about 3 ounces), cut into bite-size pieces
- 4 ounces onion, sliced
- 1 small carrot, peeled and cut into 2-inch strips
Seafoods and meat:
- 8 mussels, scrubbed, debearded, soaked in salted water for a few hours, and washed
- 4 large shrimp, shelled and deveined
- 4 ounces squid, just the body with guts removed and sliced into rings
- 24 small clams (optional), soaked in salted water for a few hours, and washed
- 4 ounces of thinly sliced beef (or pork or chicken), cut into bite-size pieces
Noodles and seasonings:
- 2 bunches (1 pound) fresh or frozen jjajangmyeon noodles, thawed if frozen, and uncoiled
- 5 tablespoons gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
Make stock:
- Combine the water, anchovies, and kelp in a large pot. Cover, and cook over medium-high heat for 20 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook for another 20 minutes.
- Strain the stock and you will have 8 to 10 cups’ worth. Set aside.
Make the hot pepper flakes mixture:
- Combine 2 tablespoons of hot pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil in a small bowl.
- Mix with a spoon until well incorporated. Set aside.
Make jjamppong:
- Heat a large wok (or pot) over high heat. Add the vegetable oil, garlic, ginger, and stir about 20 seconds with a wooden spoon until the garlic starts to turn a little crispy.
- Add the beef and stir until slightly cooked.
- Clear a spot in the wok by pushing the garlic, ginger, and the meat to the side. Tilt the wok so that the excess vegetable oil slides into the cleared area. Put 3 tablespoons hot pepper flakes into the hot oil and stir and mix with the wooden spoon for about 1 minute, until it creates a smoky flavor but not long enough to burn. Then stir everything in the wok together into the hot oil.
- Add green onion, leek, cabbage, and onion and stir for 3 to 4 minutes until the vegetables are wilted.
- Add 6 cups stock and all the seafoods and bok choy. Cover and cook 7 to 8 minutes until the mussels and clams are open and the shrimp and squid are well cooked.
- Stir in the fish sauce, kosher salt, and the reserved hot pepper flakes mixture. Cover and let it simmer over low heat.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and stir a few times so that they don’t stick to each other.
- Cover and cook 5 to 8 minutes until tender but still chewy.
- Strain and rinse the noodles in cold running water to make them nice and chewy.
Put it together and serve:
- Heat up the soup over high heat.
- Divide the noodles into individual serving bowls. Add the soup over top and include cooked seafood, vegetables, meat over top of the noodles. Serve right away.
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
It's always best to buy Korean items at your local Korean grocery store, but I know that's not always possible so I chose these products on Amazon that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.
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Hi Maangchi!!!!!:)
I made your 짬뽕 three times now and it is fabulous. But I am having a problem with the anchovy stock. It is not turning milky white like in your video. It is kinda yellow and not milky at all. I am a friend of yours on Facebook and uploaded photos of the stock and my process of making it. Also of the ingredients. The album is PHOTOS FOR MAANGCHI. (Actually I used your facebook name) Could you look at those pictures? PLEASE HELP! I love cooking your food. 여자치구도 먹기 좋아합니다. I sent you a post on your facebook wall! Thanks…..Please help:)
Felix,
Of course you can use the chicken broth for hot and spicy jjamppong. I’m glad to hear about your successful jjamppong making!
Hi Maangchi~
I made the non spicey jjamppong and it was very good!
will it be ok to use the chiciken broth for the Hot& spicy jjamppong,
or does it have to be a homemade stock??
rona,
I think it will be ok, but oyster sauce gives the soup more flavor.
hi,, what if i don`t have oyster sauce? is it still delicuous??
Yin,
I hope you made delicious jjampong.
mina,
wow! moving to Copenhagen! no problem! As long as you know how to make your favorite Korean food, wherever you go, you will be able to make it. I hope some Korean ingredients are available where you are living.
maangchi! i recently moved from southern california to denmark and there are very few korean restaurants/shops here (maybe 3 in all of copenhagen). so i was overjoyed to find your site and hopefully i can start making my childhood favourites like jjampong on my own. thanks a million! (:
ah, But they don’t sell hot pepper flakes near where i live, so i’m just going to improvise a little. =D
Yin,
Sure, why not? I usually don’t use hot pepper paste in jjamppong though.
So i know you said hot pepper paste would make it too thick, but what if you diluted the hot pepper paste with water before you put it in, do you think it’ll work?
[I love your recipes- so easy for the university student XD]
Sylvia,
Wow, congratulation. It sounds like you could post cooking videos on YouTube someday! : )
Yeah, more hot pepper flakes will be nice!
You are a smart cook!
I did it!! I made jjompong.
It took 3 days to find all the ingredients, but it was worth it. I even found the same Korean noodles you use (they are really good). I only had small anchovies for the stock, so I put them in an infuser.
I made two kinds, the spicy just like the recipe, but, I didn’t have mussles so I used a can of clams with and the liquid they were packed in.
It was SSSsssooo good. I might use a little more pepper flakes next time.
Some of my family are not big fish eaters, so I made the nonspicy version with only pork and I used homemade turkey stock from the thanksgiving turkey.
It was yummy too.
The only thing I would do differently is not make both kinds on the same night. LOL.
Thanks again for another great recipe.
thank you! yes it does but its in korean. im still learning to its not so fluent. hehehe
마리,
This is the noodles for jjamppong. I use these noodles when I make jjajangmyeon, too.
https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/jja-jjang-myun-noodles
Pancake mix? I have never used it, so I don’t know. Why don’t you check the back of the product? They usually describe how to use it.
wow thanks for this i really like jjampong. i always eat the instant version before. now i can make from scratch. :) i was able to make your 된장찌개 but i was too excited to eat. forgot to take a snapshot. hehhee.
can i ask what noodles you used for this 짬뽕? btw, can u tell me how to use the pancake mix instant version im not sure how much water to add or anything else and how many servings per cup of mix and water?
정말 감사합니다! :)
Sophia,
I think it’s ok, but with oyster sauce, it will give your jjamppong more delicious flavor. Good luck with your jjamppoing making! I’m proud of you! You must be a good cook!
maangchi
I am really thankful for your recipes all the time.
I am studying English in Canada now and staying with Canadian family. Sometimes I cook Korean food for them and whenever I cook, I always use your recipe and it turns out great. So, I always hear “you’re such a good cook.”
by the way, this time I am going to try this recipe but, I don’t have oyster sauce. Is that going to be OK to omit this? Does this sauce make a big difference??
Kayla,
I use hot pepper flakes instead of hot pepper paste.
If I used hot pepper paste, I think the soup would be too thick which is not the taste I’m looking for.
Brutus Lo,
Thank you very much!
It’s fun and educational to see a master cook in action. I learned so much more from your video than just reading a receipe. Thanks.
When I eat 짬뽕 at a Korean restaurant I love the spicy soup part of it. Will it taste the same if I use 고추장 instead of 고춧가루 and vegetable oil?
Confused,
I hope your jjamppong turns out great! You can use beef or chicken instead of pork.
I am making this dish tomorrow! I already have a frozen squid thawing in my refrigerator. I was wondering, what part of the pig is good for this? I don’t usually buy pork because I don’t like the taste of it in American cooking, but I am going to try it for this recipe in case using pork instead of an alternative adds to the flavor of the dish.
Hi… I can’t view the video…
Thanks Maangchi for posting jjambong recipe. I love to eat this.
Yum! homemade knife cut noodle soup, can’t wait to see you post this receipt. Anyway thank you so much.
Esther Kim,
Wow fast! You already made Jjamppong! Soon you are going to be mom! Take care yourself! : )
Mila,
Thank you for your nice comment!
You are absolutely amazing as always!!!! Thank you for doing two versions!!!
By the way, I’m currently 7 months pregnant and I wish you were my mom to cook all these wonderful home cooked meals.. :)
Hello Mangchi! I’ve recently discovered your site and it’s been soo much fun & helpful to look through all your cooking! I just tried your jjang ppong receipe and I LOVED LOVED LOVED it!! My husband loved it so much that he was very impressed! So I told him that I would give all the credit to you~ ^^ Keep up the good work and i’ll make sure to pass your inf to all of my friends~
r~*,
oh, yeah? Nice! Update me how your jjamppng turns out. Thank you very much!
Judy Lee,
I think you should buy the noodles I use in the video recipe. The taste of Jjamppong noodles is a little different from the taste of homemade knife cut noodles.
I will post homemade knife cut noodle soup (“kalguksu” in Korean)later.
Hey Maangchi,
Do you have a receipt for home make korean noodle for this jjamppong receipt, because this will taste even better!!
Thank you
Judy
I cannot wait to try this! I have been searching for this for such a loooooonnnng time! gamsahamnida!
Sylvia, Jae,and VB
Let me know how your jjamppong turns out later.
VB,
Yes, my left wrist is getting better and better. Thank you! You have all ingredients except hot pepper flakes for this recipe? Wow! Then you can make non-spicy jjamppong now. : )
I see many people use the pancake mix these days. Good!
Hey Maangchi!
I am so sorry to learn abt yr injury but I guess it must be better now coz u made that awesome Jjamppong. I could just salivate looking at the spicy version and I hv all the ingredients except the pepper flakes .. ….. URKSS!!!!! I want to scream!!!!
Anyway, I wanted to tell u that I got some pancake flour premix fm this company http://www.cj.co.kr (no MSG) and I think it tastes nicer coz it is seasoned flour…hehhehehe…… my computer is down so I won’t be able to tk photos of my pancake this time……. but I will surely do so when I get my computer back (my photography software and stuffs are connected on that computer).
Tk care, VB
I am really looking forward to making this now. My friends at school have been clamoring for Jjaamppong! Thanks!
Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Thank you again for doing all this for us.
Have a happy Thanksgiving.